When we Fall
by TheBlackBeltGamer
Summary: Raven had felt it as she moved to put her mask on. It felt like a small pop, the energy being released and becoming a void of nothing. She felt hallow. Empty. She remembered this happening only one other time. When Summer died.
1. The Dragon Falls

**Hello everyone! So this was just a random idea that popped into my head one day after noticing that no one (as far as I am aware) as done an AU/what if scenario quite like this one, so I figured why not give it a go! There is a story out there, but I'll leave a more detailed description about it and everything else at the bottom.  
**

 **So here we are! Enjoy!  
**

 **OH! and Spoiler Alert for anyone that has not seen RWBY V5 Ep12 yet, you have been warned.**

* * *

 **The Dragon Falls**

"Hello, Brother." Raven smirked from across the room, her red eyes gazing into his. Qrow took the time to assess the situation. The fact that Raven was here wasn't that much of a surprise, he did see her raven form in the forest earlier but still...

Her white mask sat in the middle of the table she had picked out, and her weapon placed on her hip. He didn't think she ever let it leave her side, and probably was next to her in her sleep.

Qrow sighed, "Raven." Walking towards her table across the room. He swirled the drink around in his hands, internally dreading this conversation. Raven only showed up when she wanted something or to gloat about something, so the question was, what did she want this time?

Her red eyes followed his every move, the sound of the chair scrapping across the floor could be heard throughout the empty bar. Raven only rolled her eyes as her brother stared at her, waiting for her to move the mask off the center of the table.

Only then did he sit down, "So… What do you want?" Straight to the point, just how Qrow knew she would like it.

"A girl can't just… catch up with her family?" she asked impishly.

"She can, but you're not." He retorted with a frown at her tone, "How 'bout we get on with it." Taking a swig of his liquor.

"Unless you plan on keeping these coming." He smirked right back, if she wanted to play around, so could he. Qrow placed the glass on the table with a thunk, signaling that it was her turn to speak. Like a little game they played, though only when Raven initiated it.

"Does _She_ have it?" Raven asked, a frown on her face as Qrow ignored the question, choosing to trace his finger around the edge of the glass instead.

"Did you know Yang lost her arm?" He countered, continuing his tracing as crimson locked with crimson. He knew he had hit a nerve with that comment.

"That's NOT-" Raven moved to stand, her fist clenching.

"Rhetorical question." Qrow cut in, trying to ease the tension in the air from his games. "I know you know. It's just obnoxious that you bring up family then carry on like your own daughter doesn't exist." He hated when Raven did this. And she seemed to be doing it a lot recently. Like with the Breach in Vale, or when Yang was disqualified in the Vytal Tournament. Hell, even when Yang had placed Ruby in a wagon to go looking for Raven herself. Raven didn't bother to ask how everyone was doing, how Yang was doing, just wanted to know what Salem and her cronies were up to, nothing more and nothing less.

"I _saved_ her." Raven snarled.

"Once," Qrow answered, lifting his hand to hold up a single finger, "Cause that was your rule… Right? Real 'Mom of the Year' material, Sis." He reached for his drink again, only to have his wrist snatched by Raven as she stood, leaning over the table to do so. _Guess the game is over_ , Qrow internally sighed.

"I told you Beacon would Fall, and it did. I told you Ozpin would fail and he has." She was rubbing it in his face now, "Now you tell me. Does? Salem? Have it?" She hissed the last part out, still holding on to his arm.

"Thought you weren't interesting in all of that?" Qrow smirked, intrigued by the turn of events. Raven frowned, of course she wasn't, but with the Fall Maiden going rogue and Haven being the next target, Raven was concerned that she, as well as the rest of her tribe, would become targets as well.

"I just want to know what we're up against." She growled. Raven was done messing around, done playing this verbal game with her brother. She just wanted to get her Intel and leave. Was she, as the Spring Maiden, in any immediate danger or not.

"Which _we_ are you referring too?" Qrow wasn't done it seemed, which served only to piss Raven off as she threw his hand away.

"You should come back, Raven. The only way we beat _Her_ is by working together." Qrow swirled the drink around in his hand, hoping that he could at least convince Raven to think about it. "All of us."

 _"You're_ the one who left." Raven accused, it almost sounded like she was still hurting from Qrow's betrayal all those years ago. "The Tribe raised us, and you turned your back on them."

Qrow took another drink. "They were killers and thieves." He still remembered the time when they were fourteen, going out on raids... The mental image of all those that he had to hurt, those he had to kill, just so that he could survive. He never liked it then, and now that he was a huntsman, he hated it even more. Sure, him and Raven were sent to Beacon to learn how to kill other huntsman and huntresses, but that didn't mean he changed his mind after meeting Tai and Summer. He knew that he couldn't continue to live like that. He didn't want to have to look into the disappointment of his friends eyes for returning to his past. So he left.

"They were your family," Raven half grimaced half snarled, her hand slamming down on the table. Never truly felt like family to him, not in the same way that being with Summer and Tai did. They were his family, not the tribe. That was something that Raven didn't seem to get.

"You have a very _skewed perception_ of that word." Qrow replied. Raven didn't take it well, standing up to her full height to look down on him.

"I lead our people now! And as their leader I will do everything in my power to ensure our survival." She snarled at Qrow.

"I saw." He only nodded his head, the images of the destroyed town flashing through his mind. "The people of Shion saw too."

"The weak die, the strong live. Those are the rules." Raven spoke, reciting the tribes basic rules. Rules that he never liked in the first place, regardless of how true they rang when natural selection was concerned.

"Well you've certainly got someone strong on your side." Qrow mused, glaring at his sister. There was someone that she was hiding, he was sure of it. "I've seen the damage."

Raven folder her arms as she turned away, "We couldn't have known that the Grimm were going to set in as quickly as they did."

"I'm not talking about the Grimm." Qrow growled back, frustrated that this game always played in Ravens favor. She could stall if she wanted, but he couldn't. Raven turned to look at her brother again as he continued to speak. "I'm not talking about you either."

 _If only you knew, Brother..._ Raven mused silently before walking back to the table to grab her mask, "If you don't know where the relic is, then we have nothing left to talk about." She glared at her brother, ready to leave. If only he knew her true strength. Of course that would require her to give up her final trump card, and Raven was not going to do that, she already had a nice set up with Vernal back at camp. Vernal was the only one within her tribe to know the truth about the Maidens, everyone else was just to believe that it was Vernal's semblance to use lightning, which, while technically true, not the whole story. It was safer this way, and her mask helped hide the flaming eyes that were a signature of the Maidens and their power.

Qrow reached across that table and laid a hand on her mask, "I don't know where the Spring Maiden is either… If you do, I need you to tell me." He begged, knowing fully that Raven wouldn't tell him regardless.

"And why," she pulled the mask out from his hand, "would I do that?" _If you think that I will just give up my secret, my trump card against Salem! then you are sadly mistaken, Brother._

"Cause without her, we're all going to die." He frowned, he knew she was hiding something, but he just didn't know what it was. He knew she had the Spring Maiden, he could tell, but she wouldn't admit to it. Not yet, but he would follow his hunch to the very end.

A light went out on one of the other tables as she responded, "And which _we_ are you referring to?" Smirking at him again as she threw his line right back at him. Qrow looked away in defeat. He expected her to create a portal back to her camp, instead he heard her stumble only slightly. He small gasp catching his attention.

Something was wrong.

Raven had felt it as she moved to put her mask on. It felt like a small pop, the energy being released and becoming a void of nothing. She felt hallow. Empty. She remembered this happening only one other time.

When Summer died.

"Raven?" Qrow called out. He moved to stand when she didn't respond. "Raven? What's wrong?"

She ignored him again, visualizing a face in her mind's eye, she clipped her mask onto her belt and reached for her blade, forming the energy within her body and swinging the blade through the empty air.

Nothing happened.

"Raven? What was that?" Qrow called more urgently, his hand resting on her shoulder. "Who was that for?" He had realized what she had tried to do, create a portal with a bond that no longer existed. A sinking feeling began to form in his gut, and Summer came to his mind the last time this happened. It had been the only reason that they had been able to confirm that Summer Rose was truly dead.

"Tai..." was all Raven said as she moved to create a different portal, this one successfully formed and she leaped through the portal before Qrow could ask her to clarify. That sinking feeling he had only grew. Something bad just happened in his family, he just didn't know if it was Tai that was the one that was in trouble, or if it was him whom the second portal was for.

* * *

She hummed as she cleaned the house, rearranging things for the thousandth time, but there was not much else to do here, no Grimm to fight, no evil baddies to stop, everything was peaceful and calm. She rarely received visitors, though that wasn't necessarily her own fault, it was difficult to make friends here or even meet friends here when all your friends and family were still alive.

Though the young girl that refused to leave Beacon Tower was someone she was still trying to reason with. Poor thing, she was so young too. She could tell from the way the young woman carried herself every once in a while that she was a Huntress. Or she was going to be before…

She shuddered at the thought of either of her two girls befalling that fate.

She sighed, looking towards the near empty portraits on the walls, white silhouettes outlining almost everyone but herself. Though, it was comforting to say the least, the white silhouettes meaning that everyone who lived within the house was still alive. A sad smile appeared on her lips as she decided to tend to the garden outside, one of her favorite pastimes. It wasn't a complete substitute for raising her two little girls, but the nurturing feeling was welcomed. Reminded her of raising her own girls.

The sunlight wasn't too bright outside, but its warmth was the same, breathing in the air she grabbed the watering can by the door and moved to fill it up. Her daily routine was always the same, but it helped to have some form of order in this afterlife. Sometimes she liked to visit her grave, and if she was lucky, she would hear her family talking to her from the other side. Ruby visited the most, but the stories she told and the adventures were always the highlight of her visits. She couldn't help but feel so proud of her little girl, getting into Beacon two years early was a true accomplishment, but that didn't mean she also didn't have risks associated with it. Of course she would be nervous for her little girl, becoming a huntress was a dangerous line of work, and sometimes fatal (she would know with her own first-hand experience), but that didn't mean she would stop her little girl from doing something that she loved.

A series of thumps and thuds pulled her out of her musings, and turned to the direction of the sound. The dying echos of a wail and gun shots filled the air for a moment, and a knot began to form in her stomach.

That sounded like...

She felt the knot in her stomach grow as she put her watering can down and moved to the other side of the house. There, she found a body slumped over and face down in the dirt. A wild mane blonde hair was the most prominent feature of this person, and the knot moved to her throat as she got closer to the body. They were older now, but she recognized that hair from anywhere, and tears began to prick at the corners of her eyes as one of her worst fears suddenly became a reality.

 _Yang._

Summer choked down her sobs as she knelled down to pull her eldest child into her arms and clear the blonde hair from her face.

Her little sunflower was dead.

* * *

 **So yeah... That happened... I always wondered what would happen if Adam actually made good on his threat to Blake and went after Yang even after the Fall of Beacon. Anyways, I don't plan on making this one longer that a couple of chapters, but we will see, maybe you all will like the idea and want more, or maybe I'll somehow get inspiration to create a larger story out of it. You never know.  
**

 **I think the only other story similar to this one was Yang dying at the Fall of Beacon due to her wounds... IDK the author and the story title right now but I know it exists, just can't remember right now, and too lazy to look it up... So yeah.**

 **And for those following my other story, don't worry, I plan on updating that one soon. School, work, and life hit me like a freight train and didn't let up at all.**

 **That being said, see you all next chapter! Peace!**


	2. The Truth is Hard to Swallow

**The Truth is Hard to Swallow**

Tai held a bag of groceries in one hand, the other digging through his pocket for his scroll. He knew Yang probably wouldn't answer, but he would try to call her none the less. The dial tone was his only response, sighing, he put the scroll away.

"What do you think, boy? You think she will like the steak I got for dinner tonight?" He asked the dog, receiving a happy bark from the black and white Corgi. "I think so too, Zwei. And I think you might just get a special snack-" he stopped at the familiar whooshing sound echoing in the quiet of the woods. Zwei perked up, ears standing at attention as he stared off in the direction of the sound. His nose lifting up and sniffing, trying to find a particular scent.

Zwei growled at a patch of trees just off the road, Tai turned to find a small black feather fall to the ground. He frowned at it, wondering why Raven would make an unexpected and unwelcome visit.

"Tai…" A feminine voice called out. He knew that voice, it was one that he hadn't heard in a long time.

"Raven." He growled as the woman showed herself. Zwei's growls lowered in volume but kept his teeth barred at the new figure. "What are you doing here?" This wasn't the Raven he remembered. Not the one who left either. It was a quieter, more emotional Raven, one that he only saw after Yang was born. Why was she here now though? Not that he cared (though if he was honest he would gladly take her back if she could prove that she was done with this "strength is everything" and tribe mentally), he just wanted to go back to Yang and help her get better.

"It's Yang... She's gone." Was all she said as she looked down the path to the house.

Tai scoffed, not listening a word she said after mentioning Yang. When has she ever cared about Yang? If she cared she never would have left. He turned to stare at her.

"Did you hear me?" Raven questioned, turning to look back at Tai. "Yang is-"

"And why should I listen to you?" He interrupted angrily. He had every right to be. She walked out on him. On Yang. Their team. They were a family, and she just up and left. Then when Summer died, she didn't even come back to tell him herself, she sent Qrow. She never bothered to check on them, to see if they were alright, if they were still alive... If Yang and Ruby were still alive after the little stunt Yang had pulled a few weeks after Summer died. He knew he shouldn't be this angry over the issue, but then again, he had every right to unload his frustration on her.

"Tai..."

"No, you don't get to come here and tell me how to care for Yang. Not when _you_ left." Tai glared at the masked woman.

Once she realized that he wasn't listening to her, she clarified her already clear statement by using one that she knew would hit Tai hard.

"She's dead, Tai! I felt her bond break." The same thing she told Qrow to tell Tai when Summer died.

That seemed to snap Tai out of his trance, his eyes widening in fear. _No._ He turned to look down the path to the cabin before breaking into a sprint with the groceries long forgotten on the roadway.

 _She's lying, she has to be lying. She_ has _to be._ Tai was trying to convince himself, but he knew she wasn't. Why else would she be here?

He breached the edge of the clearing to his yard, eyes scanning for the threat. The sliver of hope he had died as he found that he was too late.

The front door was wide open, looking as if it had been kicked in, and the glass in the dirt reflected the sun light. A broken window just above the shards was spotted, belonging to the room Yang had been using during her recovery. Tai fell to his knees at the sight of his daughter laying face down in the dirt, blood pooling at an alarming rate underneath her, lilac eyes half lidded and glossy, staring in his general direction.

* * *

Lilac eyes opened slowly, and stared at the ceiling of her bedroom. Yang shot up right instantaneously, gasping for breath as she tried to take in her surroundings. Flashes of the battle with Adam still burned into her mind, his red blade, the mask, that smirk… Yang released a breath she didn't know she was holding, letting her shoulders relax as she fell back onto her mattress. _I'm still in bed, it was all a dream._ She unconsciously wiped her face with her right hand, _it was only a dream_. There was a clatter of pans from the kitchen, and her stomach rumbled. _I guess lunch wouldn't hurt… and maybe some medicine for my throat._ She moved to sit back up, before reaching up and rubbing it, not reaching high enough to come in contact with the scar. She moved to get out of bed, stretching and groaning as her feet came in contact with the wooden floor. She rolled her neck around, listening to the pops that sounded from the action. She felt much better as she moved to the door to her room. A loud crash sounded from the kitchen, causing her to jump.

 _He fired at her again, catching her in the right shoulder. She screamed, her aura breaking as she fell to the ground._

She leaned against the wall as she caught her breath, shaking her head to clear the memory. _Dream,_ she reminded herself, _just a dream._ Pushing off the wall, she staggered forward and down the hall with the goal of getting some food. _And medicine, my throat is killing me._ She rubbed her throat again, the feeling of sandpaper grating against each other as she swallowed becoming increasingly more and more annoying. She eyed the random frames that littered the hallways, not wanting to knock one off the wall as she made her way to the kitchen.

That was when she began to notice the empty pictures within the frames.

 _What in the world…_ Yang reached up to move one, fingers pressing against the frame to inspect the picture. No, empty wasn't the right word, but rather that the people in them had been cut out of the picture all together…

In all of them… she reached for another one, this one actually contacting a picture of herself. She was younger in the frame, in fact, she knew this picture, it was just after Ruby's 3rd birthday, Ruby had jumped on Yang's back for a piggyback ride as their mom snapped the picture. The one just before Summer died. But Ruby wasn't visible, just Yang. Taking sight of her right arm caused her to freeze her motion.

Yang pulled the arm away from the frame, staring down in confusion as she moved the limb and fingers. She found the pink line just above her elbow, brushing over it with her left hand in curiosity. It didn't feel like a metal limb, or a synthetic weave. It felt like her arm was back, her own flesh and blood. A sinking feeling kept trying fall to the pit of her stomach, one that she was having a hard time trying to convince herself that everything with Adam was all a dream.

Because it was. It _had_ to be. The dark corners of her mind kept disagreeing with her internal reassurances. _It's just a dream... Only a dream..._

She opened her mouth to call for her dad, nothing but a scratching sound escaping her throat. She coughed violently, tears beginning to form in her eyes from the pain in her throat. Attempting to clear it, hoping the phlegm would coat and protect her throat for the next few seconds as she tried to call for her dad again.

"Hey dad?" She called, her voice cracking but at least sound actually came out this time. She was still examining her arm, fingers grazing the pink line just above her elbow again. "Did Ironwood send us a... new… arm?"

Looking up, she felt herself crumble as the sight of a white cloaked woman working within the kitchen turned to face her. Tears beginning to spill from her eyes as her lower lip quivered.

"Mom?" the girl whispered, voice cracking as lilac and aged silver met for the first time in over ten years.

* * *

She heard Tai's cry of agony in the clearing, her eyes drifting over the yard itself, looking over the scene. Yang was supposed to be the next Spring Maiden should she fail to do her duty and keep the relic out of Salem's hand, but that now was no longer an option. She wasn't sure what it was that she felt for the child, but seeing her dead was not what she wanted to befall Yang.

Ever.

She would deny that claim to Qrow and Tai and anyone that would ever ask her, but deep down she still cared for her family. She was the reason Qrow managed to get to the girls in time. She checked up on Yang, and in a way, Ruby, when she could. Maybe not as often as Qrow did, but she was their for every birthday, every holiday, just not in her human form... and always out of sight.

"Adam." She growled under her breath. Of course, how could it not be him. He was the man that cut off her arm, figures he would want to finish the job. What drove him to do so was a different matter all together.

She left to protect Yang. To protect everyone, even Summer… and she couldn't even do that. A growl of frustration rumbled in her throat, looking over at Tai who had moved across the yard and was currently cradling their daughter in his arms. She wasn't going to let someone else she cared for die. She knew Tai wasn't going to take being alone very well, and she didn't want another bond to break anytime soon either. Her tribe needed her, but this was more important.

Maybe, just maybe, Qrow was right about who her real family was...

Tai watched as Raven scanned the courtyard, looking for something in particular. The smell of blood drew his attention back down to his daughter, sobs escaping his throat as he caressed her cooling cheek, the flow of blood slowing now that her heart had stopped beating. There was just so much blood. He gently set her down so he could pull the bandanna from his arm and tie it around the wound, hoping to staunch the flow even if it was just for a few seconds. Tai pulled his dead little girl back into his arms, leaning down to bury his face in her hair as he cried. He couldn't do this, not again. He couldn't lose someone again. Especially not Yang. Not his Sunny Little Dragon.

A small whine sounded next to him, and he looked down only to find Zwei standing next to him, ears down and the stub of his tail trying to curl between his legs. The dog knew something was wrong and once he gained his owners attention he nudged his head against his arm and held it there as if it was his own way of saying he was sorry.

"Tai."

He turned to look up at the woman that called his name.

"Rae… She... she's..." he stuttered over his words.

"I know," She removed her mask and knelt down to look her ex-husband in the eyes. Tai could make out the small tracks of tears that had plagued her own face. So she did care, in her own way. "I know. Right now, we need to take care of Yang. Give her a proper burial."

Tai pulled the girl closer to his body, not wanting to let go of her just yet. He couldn't, it hurt to even think about burying his eldest child.

* * *

 **Well... that happened again. I feel like Raven has always cared about Yang, especially after their vault scene the V5 finale, but Raven got caught up in her own survival. Of course, Raven killed the past spring maiden, which I figured was the case, but I like the idea of her being the Spring Maiden long before that. So I guess that will be different, but I like Raven. She's an interesting character to me.**

 **This was hard to write, had "Drink a Beer" by Luke Bryan on repeat while writing this chapter for inspiration, and probably do it again for a later chapter as well.**

 **I put this in the AN of my other story, but while I will continue to update this one, it will not be a priority. I wont be updating this one as quickly as Past Experiences, which will be my main focus for the foreseeable future.**

 **Anyways, see you all next time for some more angst and tears. Peace!**


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